If the user has a URL entered in a field we want to automatically launch a brower .. so the question is ..

How do I know what browser the user has in order to RUNWIN. Is there a way to automatically launch the 'default' browser?

any and all ideas welcome

dsig

David Tod Sigafoos ~ SigSolutions

dsig@teleport.com

Dsig,

what you can RUNWIN is the URL itself by passing :

"start " : URL : " /m" this will open the document in the default browser

Adrie

Adrie,

YEOW!!! I will run over to the office at lunch and give that a try .. by any chance would a similar syntax work for launching the default mail program?

Thanks again

DSig

David Tod Sigafoos ~ SigSolutions

dsig@teleport.com

David,

this will work also for your default mail program, as long as the win95 explorer shell 'recognises' the document type/extension. Of course the mail program must be able to accept the document you try to pass on.

If the document type is not connected to your program, it is possible to add a type by hand.

To do so open a map, go to menu view/properties choose file type (i think translated from dutch) and add the extension that has to be associated with the program.

Adrie.

Adrie,

Not only does the Browser launch but mail also ..

To launch mail for a 'mail id' simply replace the URL with "mailto:" maill address ..

example:

rtn=Utility("RUNWIN","start mailto:dsig@teleport.com /m")

So what is 'start' and what is the '/m'.

AND why does a dos box open when this happens?

Thanks again ..

dsig

David Tod Sigafoos ~ SigSolutions

dsig@teleport.com

]So what is 'start' and what is the '/m'.

]AND why does a dos box open when this happens?

start is a command that comes with multitasking, it's part of win95, like in NT and OS/2.

the dos box opening is caused by running the start command, and the /m was intended for the start command, but this way ( if it was in the right position it should be in front of the executed document) it is passed to that what you are starting. What i mean is that the start command should run minimized to prevent the dos box to be seen.

Don't know if RUNWIN can do this.

Adrie.

This response from Scott at RTI is being posted here as a completion of the thread .. seperate forums (us/them) breaks up the ability to search for meaningful answers ..

***

David,

The syntax for the line you mention:

rtn=Utility("RUNWIN","start mailto:dsig@teleport.com /m")

Is actually somewhat incorrect. The "/m" should go immediately after the start command. It should read:

rtn=Utility("RUNWIN","start /m mailto:dsig@teleport.com")

Having the "/m" at the end caused two things to happen:

1. A fully-sized DOS box to open up

2. The mail applet to load within Netscape

The reason moving it works? Check the syntax for the "start" command by typing "start /?" at the command prompt in Win95 or NT. If

you're in NT, you might want to add " | more" to pipe it to the pager, as the NT "start" is different from the '95 "start". Also, to ensure

compatibility with NT, you should actually use "/min" instead of "/m", since "/m" doesn't work right in NT.

One thing you have to be certain of if you are using either Adrie's or Blaise's methods, is that your URL file types are set up; otherwise the OS won't know what to do with the URL. To test this, see if you can just type a URL in the Start–]Run dialog box. I tried it here and it worked fine. If your system does the same, you can use it with Utility Runwin. Otherwise, you might need to search for Netscape or IE

and execute the EXE directly, passing it the URL as a parameter.

I haven't modified any of my URL file types settings, though, so I do believe that peoples' defaults should work fine.

-Scott Revelation

Just to complete the 'start' information ….

Runs a Windows program or a MS-DOS program.

START options program arg…

START options document.ext

/mminimized Run the new program minimized (in the background).

/maximized Run the new program mazimized (in the foreground).

/restored Run the new program restored (in the foreground).

/wait Does not return until the other program exits.

dsig

David Tod Sigafoos ~ SigSolutions

dsig@teleport.com

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